1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container box structure in a two-wheeled motor vehicle.
2. Description of Background Art
In certain types of two-wheeled motor vehicles, a container box is disposed at a rear portion of a vehicle body. For example, scooter type two-wheeled motor vehicles include a container box disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle body thereof.
A two-wheeled motor vehicles of this type is known from, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 7-46617 (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cbackground art (1)xe2x80x9d) entitled xe2x80x9cTWO-WHEELED MOTOR VEHICLE,xe2x80x9d and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-236357 entitled xe2x80x9cSCOOTER TYPE TWO- AND THREE-WHEELED MOTOR VEHICLESxe2x80x9d in (xe2x80x9cbackground art (2)xe2x80x9d hereinafter).
In the background art (1), as illustrated in FIG. 2 of this publication, a front container box 12 (the reference numeral is quoted from the above publication, as is also the case with the following) is disposed below a seat 21. A rear container box 22 is disposed behind the seat 21 and above a rear wheel 20. Furthermore, helmets H are received within the front and rear container boxes 12, 22, respectively. Thus, the front and rear container boxes 12, 22 are separated from each other in the front and rear of the vehicle.
In the background art (2), as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of this publication, an elongated container box 41 having a length equal to the overall length of a two-person seat 17 is disposed below the seat 17. A rear wheel 11 is disposed below a rear half portion of the container box 41. Furthermore, a helmet is received within the rear half portion of the container box 41.
In the background art (2) referred to above, as the case may be, the front and rear container boxes 12, 22 are gathered into a single elongated container box to meet requirements in design for the two-wheeled motor vehicle concerned. Two helmets H are accommodated within the container box and arranged in front and rear directions. The container box which contains two helmets H is large in capacity. Accordingly, if the container box is merely disposed above the rear wheel 20 and below the seat 21, it is inevitably required that a vertical position of the seat 21 be raised to ensure sufficient space for installation. In view of the distance between the seat 21 and the foot positioning of the vehicle, it is impossible to simply raise or lower the seat 21.
This is also true of the prior art (1) described above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique which permits two helmets to be contained in a container box without raising a vertical position of the seat of the vehicle.
For achieving the above-mentioned object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a two-wheeled motor vehicle has a container box extending longitudinally of the vehicle body. The container box is disposed above the rear wheel of the vehicle and the seat is disposed on the container box. The container box structure includes a bottom plate constructed from a forward downwardlyly slantinging face and a rearward downwardlyly slantinging face. Therefore, the bottom plate is formed in an approximately inverse V-shape in side view. Accordingly, it is possible to located helmets on both of the forward downwardlyly slantinging face and the rearward downwardlyly slantinging face, respectively.
The bottom plate of the container box is approximately inverse-V shaped when viewed from the side. Thus, the container box can be disposed so that the bottom plate covers an upper portion of the rear wheel. Furthermore, the container box can be mounted in a lower position than the background art. In addition, since the bottom plate is provided with forward and rearward downwardlyly slantinging faces, the capacity of the container box substantially increases when compared to the background art. Furthermore, two helmets can be accommodate in front and rear positions within the container box by placing them on the forward and rearward downwardlyly slantinging faces, respectively.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.